Friday, February 15, 2013

How Many Christians Really Want to Abolish Abortion?

We use "If/Then reasoning every day of our lives. "If/Then" is used in engineering to show that the results are dependent on the qualifier. Such reasoning can be defined this way:

"Every geometry proof is a sequence of deductions that use if-then logic. You write one of the given facts as statement 1. Then, for statement 2, you put something that follows from statement 1 and write your justification for that in the reason column. Then you proceed to statement 3, and so on, till you get to the prove statement. The way you get from statement 1 to statement 2, from statement 2 to statement 3, and so on is by using if-then logic."

In grammatical studies, the "if/then" sentence construction is known as an "appositive." An appositive is a noun, noun phrase, or series of nouns placed next to another word or phrase to identify or rename it.

In logic, the "if/then" thought process is known as a "tautology." Simply put, a tautology is saying the same thing twice. Here are some examples:

A person who steals is a thief.

A person who lies is a liar.

A person who commits adultery is an adulterer.

A person who rapes is a rapist.

A person who engages in sexual activity outside the confines of marriage (one man to one woman) is a fornicator.

A person who is not content with what God has provided for them is a coveter.

A person who takes the name of God in vain is a blasphemer.

A person who sexually preys on children is a pedophile, a child molester.

A person who takes someone hostage and holds that person against his or her will is a kidnapper.

A person who kills another human being with premeditation and malice aforethought is a murderer.

By definition, regardless of any present laws in place protecting the act, abortion is murder. To end the life of an unborn human being, one who is knit together by God in his or her mother's womb (Psalm 139:13), one who is created by God and in His image (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 9:6). While abortion may not yet be a violation of man's law, it is a violation of God's Law (Exodus 20:13).

Therefore...

Women who have abortions are murderers.

Doctors who perform abortions are murderers.

Men who assist their wives, daughters, girlfriends, friends, or prostitutes in any way to have an abortion are accessories to murder.

Women who assist their sisters, daughters, friends in any way to have an abortion are accessories to murder.

And I stand for the abolition of the murder of unborn children, which means I stand for the criminalization of the murder of unborn children.

Abolition Requires Criminalization

To abolish something is to destroy or annul it; to end the observance or effect of; as in abolishing a law. To abolish something that was, up to the point of its abolition, legal is to criminalize that which was abolished.

To abolish slavery is to criminalize slavery. So true is this that now in most states, certainly in my own state (California), to even restrain, confine, or detain someone without their consent is considered a crime -- the crime of false imprisonment.

If the speed limit on a given roadway is reduced from 50 mph to 25 mph, it is now illegal to drive on that roadway at 50 mph.

If the legal blood alcohol level is reduced from .10% to .08%, then while .09% was once under the legal limit it is now over the legal limit.

If the minimum age for a driver's license was increased from 16 years of age to 18 years of age, then it would be illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to operate a vehicle on a public street.

You cannot abolish a law which once allowed for a given act/behavior without then making the performance of that act/behavior a criminal offense.

To abolish abortion is to criminalize abortion. To criminalize abortion is to apply the same penalties and punishments to women who have abortions, to the doctors who perform abortions, and to people who assist women in having abortions--the same punishments as would be applied to anyone who committed or aided in a murder of another human being.

I can imagine the ranting and raving unbelievers must be doing right now in front of their computer screens--especially the atheists who troll this site and then scurry back to their brethren to angrily wax un-eloquently with the false bravado of Internet anonymity. But I also wonder how many Christians just gasped. How many Christians just felt a knot in their stomachs? How many Christians just winced? How many Christians are already muttering reasons we shouldn't go that far to end abortion?

Yes, I wonder how many Christians really want to abolish abortion. I think many (if not most) Christians believe abortion can be abolished through the work of the Church, without a certain level of militancy in the effort. I disagree.

Militancy

I asked my wife to read the first draft of this article, up to this point. Like maybe some of you reading this, she said, "It sounds militant." I answered, "It is."

The dictionary defines militant as follows:

Adj.

1. Fighting or warring.

2. Having a combative character; aggressive, especially in the service of a cause: a militant political activist.

n.

A fighting, warring, or aggressive person or party

A call today for the abolition of abortion is as militant as the call to abolish slavery was almost 200 years ago. Yet, as with the slavery abolition movement of long ago, today's abortion abolition movement includes various forms and degrees of militancy.

Yes, there was John Brown who took militancy to abolish slavery to an ungodly and violent level. But there were others who, in keeping with their Christian faith, were able to maintain a non-violent level of militancy and agitation that God used to effect change--people like William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

The latter, of course, is the militancy to which I subscribe--a non-violent agitation toward ideologies, systems, and groups and individuals who support, provide, perform abortions, and yes, toward those who abort their babies. Some may then ask, "Well, if you want to outlaw abortion and legally make it tantamount to another form of murder, then are you suggesting that Christians should take it upon themselves to use deadly force to stop the murder of an unborn child?"

The answer to the question is "no." Christians are not to operate as vigilantes (Romans 12:18-20; Hebrews 10:30-31), taking the law into our own hands. This is why God has instituted governing authorities (Romans 13:1-5).

The only way the abortion abolitionist movement will be truly biblical, truly Christlike, is if militancy is balanced with love.

Balance

The Christian abortion abolition movement is growing. I'm glad to see it grow, in part, due to an increased awareness in the biblical open-air preaching community of the importance of abortion ministry. The open-air preaching community is bringing more men into the fight against abortion (1 Corinthians 16:13). For far too long women have shouldered the burden of leading and fighting this fight on the front lines--at the front doors of the abortuaries. And with the increased number of open-air preachers joining the fight, there seems to be an exponential increase of pro-life/abolition chatter on social media, blogs, and websites. I have written somewhat of a guide of how to preach at an abortion clinic.

The zeal, passion, fervency, and sense of urgency in the Christian abortion abolition community is commendable and warranted. After all, let us not forget that more than 3,000 unborn children are murdered every day in the United States. But the Christians' zeal, passion fervency, and sense of urgency must be tempered with Christ-likeness. Nothing in the fight to abolish abortion justifies or excuses sinful behavior, whether in thought, word, or deed. Any argument to the contrary is an argument predicated upon the errant idea of "righteous sinfulness"--an argument that puts the professed believer in opposition to God and His Word.

This is not to say the abolitionist's rhetoric cannot be pointed (Matthew 23:1-39), even piercing at times (Matthew 3:7; Matthew 12:34; Matthew 23:33). This is not to say words like "murder" cannot or ought not be used (James 4:2). This is not to say that those who murder unborn children or those who aid and abet the murder of unborn children should not be called to repent (Luke 13:1-5) of such wickedness before they carry out the bloody act . There is nothing wrong with calling to a woman walking into an abortuary in a loud voice and saying, "Please don't murder your baby!"

Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with praying that the abortuary goes out of business. There is nothing wrong with applying pressure on the abortuary to leave the location through effective, peaceful, law-abiding abolition activity. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with praying that every business sharing a building with an abortuary goes out of business or is forced to vacate the property as they tacitly or overtly support the murder of unborn children by their continued presence. And there is nothing wrong with the abortion abolitionist letting nearby business owners know that his or her concern for the lives of unborn children is far greater than their concern for the nearby business owners' "bottom line." Agitation comes with abolition activity. Lives are at stake. There is nothing wrong with praying imprecatory prayers asking God to stop evil, so long as such prayers do not ask God to damn sinners.

Christians must maintain a balance between asking God to stop the evil of abortion and the evil people involved in abortion, while remembering to love their enemies (Matthew 5:43-45), asking God to save them (Acts 26:27-29).

Every act performed (James 2:11-13) and every word uttered (Colossians 4:6) by the Christian abolitionist must be governed by the Word of God, for the Glory of God. All abolition activity must be tempered by a heart's desire to fulfill the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:34-39) in the endeavor--to love God and to love people (1 Corinthians 16:14; James 2:8). Everything done in the name of saving unborn children must be predicated upon a heart's desire to see sinners (even murderers; see Acts 9:1-9) come to genuine repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10) and faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9)--to sincerely hope we will one day see them in Heaven (1 Peter 1:3-5).

For the Christian abortion abolitionist, joyful and willing submission to the authority of God's Word (Psalm 119:97; Psalm 119:165), to see God glorified in every effort (1 Corinthians 10:31) and to live in conformity to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29) must take priority over all else--even the saving of unborn children's lives. The Christian's abortion abolition work must be preceded and motivated by these spiritual, righteous goals. If not, then the Christian abortion abolitionist's work is more akin to idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:1-13) than faithfulness to Christ (1 Corinthians 4:2).

And the great leveler, the scale upon which militancy and love will be weighed, the barometer that will gauge whether or not the applied pressure of the abortion abolition effort is truly biblical, the thermometer that will determine the true temperature (hot or cold) of the movement, and the pollster that will determine the genuineness of the resultant effectiveness of the fight will be the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

The abortion abolition movement might change the minds of some would-be murderers, but they will remain on the fast track to Hell (John 8:24; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 2:1-10).

The abortion abolition movement will seek to glorify abolitionists instead of seeking to honor, praise, and glorify the only One who is worthy of it all--Jesus Christ (Psalm 105:3; Proverbs 25:27; Isaiah 42:8; John 7:18; Revelation 5:11-13).

The abortion abolition movement will degrade into yet another blasphemous exercise in ecumenism with practitioners of false religions, such as Roman Catholicism (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

The gospel must be and must always remain central in the motivation and tactics of the abortion abolition movement. Him we proclaim (Colossians 1:28); know nothing except Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2); so we preach and so you believed (1 Corinthians 15:11): such is the necessity of the centrality of the gospel, in the abortion abolition movement! Without the gospel of Jesus Christ, the abortion abolition movement is a work of men, not of God.

Conclusion

I am a Christian abortion abolitionist.

I understand that not only is abortion murder, but those who are involved in the murder of unborn children are murderers. Without the criminalization of abortion, the abolition of abortion will be incomplete. Those who murder unborn children or aid and abet the murder of unborn children should be punished accordingly.

I understand that a certain level of militancy is necessary to bring about the abolition of abortion. Militancy must be governed by the Word of God and tempered by a genuine love for God and love for people if that militancy is to be truly biblical and Christ-honoring.

I understand that without the centrality of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of the gospel, the abortion abolition movement will degrade into just another humanistic (Acts 17:24-26), unloving (Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 11:42), spiritually impotent (2 Chronicles 20:12), man-centered and man-glorifying (Galatians 1:10), ecumenical (Ephesians 5:6-11), sinful (Romans 14:23b) exercise.

My hope and prayer is that God will bless the Christian abortion abolition movement, knowing that will only come to pass if the movement draws closer to Jesus Christ with every step in the fight for the lives of unborn children.

How many Christians really want to abolish abortion? At the moment, I fear the numbers may be lower than I once thought.

It's much easier to be "pro-life" when one can keep himself from thinking about what the abolition of abortion will mean to those who insist on murdering their children once abortion is outlawed. It's much easier, cleaner, tidier to be "pro-life" when one can keep herself from considering the cause-and-effect reality that the end of abortion will mean the beginning of real, penal consequences for the crime of abortion. But Christians cannot truly enjoy their sweet "pro-life" cake without the bitter frosting of the criminalization of abortion and the judicial punishment of those who commit the crime.

So ask yourself the following question. Do I really want to abolish abortion? Do I really?

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